Step 1 asks “WHAT are we going to do?” It’s all about dreaming big. Any idea, no matter how absurd, can and should be suggested. Here, you are defining the big, bold objectives that will shape your project.

Room Setup: Airy rooms with high-ceilings are the best locations for thinking big. The team should sit in a circle facing each other to promote collaboration and creative flow.

Mentality: Any idea is fair game. This step is not about feasibility, it’s about surprise. Set aside your assumptions and push yourself to think in new ways.

tep 2 asks “HOW are we going to do it?” Now the focus is on creative execution. How will the idea be implemented? Who’s doing which tasks? What’s the timeline? In Disney’s case, this stage would involve sketching out characters, discussing plot, and ultimately building out storyboards.

Room Setup: A practical room with a large dry-erase board or wall facilitates strategic planning. The team should sit in a semi-circle facing the board as everyone participates in the execution planning process.

Mentality: This is the step where you role up your sleeves and fill in the blanks. You may find a gem of an idea from the first step that needs to be fleshed out. During this phase, seek to resolve every uncertainty around timing, logistics, and feasibility. When something doesn’t make sense, question it.

Step 3 asks “WHY are we doing this?” And, “Is this the right approach?” In this final phase, the critic enters the fray, asking hard questions. Is the plan really gelling? Are their unwieldy aspects that need to get cut? Are you meeting the overall project objective?

Room Setup: Analytical thinking is best done in smaller, more constrained spaces. (The Disney crew used a small room under the stairs.) The team sits in a single row facing the project plan, which promotes criticism of the project, but not individual people.

Mentality: Pose the difficult questions and share the earth-shattering doubts. In step two, you’re likely to get lost in the weeds. The third step provides the perspective from the balcony as opposed to the dance floor. In this phase, consider your plan in the context of your business and your long-term mission.

There will be nearly one mobile deviceper capitaby 2015. There will be over 7.1 billion mobile-connected devices, including machine-to-machine (M2M) modules, in 2015-approximately equal to the world’s population in 2015 (7.2 billion).

Mobile network connection speeds will increase 10-fold by 2015. The average mobile network connection speed (215 kbps in 2010) will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 60 percent, and will exceed 2.2 megabits per second (Mbps) in 2015.

Two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2015. Mobile video will more than double every year between 2010 and 2015. Mobile video has the highest growth rate of any application category measured within the Cisco VNI forecast at this time.

Smartphone adoption accelerated in both the U.S. and Europe. U.S. smartphone adoption reached 27% of mobile subscribers as of December, up 10 percentage points from the prior year, while European adoption reached 31%, also up nearly 10 points.

Network quality and cost of monthly plan were the top two purchase consideration factors for mobile subscribers in the U.S. and U.K.

Nokia was the top manufacturer in the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain. Samsung took the top spot in the U.S. and France, and also ranked in the top three in the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain.

More than a third (36%) of mobile Americans and 29%of Europeans browsed the mobile Web in December, with access through an application reaching 34% of Americans and 28% of Europeans. Across regions, mobile browsing and application usage is growing in the range of seven to nine percentage points per year.

More than 75% of mobile subscribers in Japan are connected media users (identified as those who used their browser, accessed applications or downloaded content), far exceeding their U.S. and European counterparts. Japan also saw nearly 10% of its mobile audience make a purchase with their mobile wallet in December 2010.

The number of mobile users that accessed a social networking site at least once a month via their mobile device in 2010 grew 56%, to nearly 58 million in the U.S., and 75% in Europe, to 42 million.

uptake of the mobile Web and apps (34.5%) in the U.S. is roughly on par. It will be interesting to see in 2011 if the mobile Web outpaces app growth as HTML5 gains ground as a platform for building mobile Web sites and creating a more user-friendly experience.